Posting this as a reminder from back in the middle of last month:

Treasury semi-annual currency report says no major US trading partners manipulated FX

• Japan was removed from the list

While being on the list would not, and indeed did not, stop the Bank of Japan from intervening in the yen, not being on the monitoring list is a comfort to Japanese authorities. The BoJ buying yen is not going to fuss the US Treasury either.

Earlier:

• USD/JPY is finally on the move lower after Kanda’s yen intervention threat. Not by much.

–

Background on the list:

The U.S. Treasury Department’s semi-annual currency report is an important document that assesses the economic and foreign exchange policies of the United States’ major trading partners.

In this report, the Treasury examines and evaluates whether any foreign economies are manipulating their currency to gain unfair competitive advantage in international trade.

If a country is found to be a currency manipulator, the U.S. can take retaliatory action, including negotiations and trade sanctions.

The criteria for labelling a country as a currency manipulator include:

• a significant bilateral trade surplus with the United States,
• a material current account surplus,
• and engagement in persistent one-sided intervention in the foreign exchange market.

—

Meanwhile, USD/JPY is barely moving:

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.